Kidney Transplant Patient Marries His Donor

(Newser)
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Kyle Froelich's kidneys were failing, and he'd been waiting for a good match—little did he know what his plight would bring him. He met Chelsea Clair in 2009; she'd heard about him, and almost immediately decided to give him her kidney. Froelich, then 19, and Clair, then 22, found out a month later she was "almost a perfect match," Clair tells the Indianapolis Star. As they supported each other through six months of tests and doctor's appointments, they grew closer. After the successful transplant, they became a couple—and on Oct. 12, three years later, the Indiana couple got married.

"There’s a bond that no one else, unless they’ve done it, can know," Froelich says."She’s my best friend." They have an 11-month-old son and are also raising Clair's 6-year-old daughter. On each anniversary of the transplant, they throw a party—called "Sparkypalooza" because they've named the kidney Sparky. "He’s carrying around my kidney," says Clair. "I have to make sure he takes care of that." (Read more uplifting news stories.)